Josh Blanchard

Recent Posts

The Pentecostal idolizes tongues and healing and the evangelicals condemn them. The evangelical idolizes leadership and receives praise. I grow tired of the arduous leadership propaganda of our low church. Could it be that when our Lord told his apostles to be lowly servants he meant what he said? How is it that the church has constructed an inversion of Christ’s message? He did not tell his apostles to lead, but to serve in love.

Last Thursday night, we took time to tell stories. Everyone loves to hear a good story; moreover, everyone loves to tell a good story. Whether it's to a large group or to a few close friends, there is something special about crafting a tale full of suspense and wonder. Humans are storytellers by nature. We want to feel heard and valued. There is something unique about looking into a friend’s eyes and knowing you have them completely captivated. Stories are essential to our nature because stories are essential to God’s nature. All of humanity is a divine novel. God uses man as a living narrative, to tell of creation, fall, redemption, and new creation.

Eighteen guys lined the sides of my hallway last night. Seated with their backs against the cinderblocks, they passed cream sodas around and the pop of carbonated beverages filled the air. What followed was a series of thanks and praises as one-by-one these hallmates shared pieces of their hearts. They told stories about late night trips to cookout and joked about the frivolous games they had played. They shared memories and laughed; but it didn’t end there. The men also shared serious words of gratitude toward those who had made their freshman year something special – who had made it something different. Some of those guys came into CIU with baggage. They were worried about fitting in at college, wrestling with anxiety, healing from grief, and

Every good story has an inciting moment. It’s the part of the story that gets the hero off of his couch and into the unknown adventure. Often it’s a challenge from a mentor, like Gandalf knocking on Bilbo’s door, or Hagrid chasing down Harry on his 11th birthday. Sometimes inciting moments are great opportunities. Maybe a position for your dream job opens up, or maybe you get bit by a radioactive spider and you have to save the world. Most inciting moments though, are of a third kind, the kind we don’t like. These are the moments where everything seems to fall apart. Batman, Superman, and a thousand other stories begin with indescribable loss. These moments force our hero to action, because to remain stagnant would lead to demise.

As a rule, I am anything but indecisive. Unfortunately, when deciding my major I broke that rule more than once. I applied for Youth Ministry, enrolled majoring in Intercultural Studies, switched to Bible Teaching, and then again to Humanities. Going through four majors is one thing, but what is worse is the fact that I’ll be changing majors again soon. You see, right now I’m studying humanities, but only in preparation to study philosophy next year. The reason I’m still in humanities is because our philosophy degree does not actually exist yet. It is technically still waiting to be cleared by the board. But, for all intents and purposes, it will actualize next semester - my senior year.

How I got here is not important. I could ramble on about how my unique mix of rigorous international education and homeschooling made it possible, but I don’t want to bore you, so we’ll jump right in: I came to college at age 16!

My first week here felt like it was straight out of a novel. I was finally at CIU, and was over a year younger than the next youngest in my class. I had to explain myself every night I went out, because even though I had a car I couldn’t drive after 9:00. Thankfully for me my older brother was a senior at the time, which meant it took all of a day for him to inform the entire campus of my age. There was no getting around it. I was in over my head and everyone knew it.

Welcome to Blue & Gold: a mixture of advice for incoming freshmen, student life highlights, and professors' insights into living with a biblical worldview. In short, everything a CIU student needs to know or a place to inform yourself before you apply!